markofthewise | Appointments Post

[He takes a sip of tea in the meantime.]

Not yet. She's just playing a little for now, and we'll probably start in a little while.

[He gives a nod and collapses into a chair. Whew.]

Well. That's going to be weird.

I don't know about weird. I haven't practiced with another Airbender in... a long time. [There was a restless and ancient anticipation within him.]

Well I meant more the granddaughter that's half your age part.

That is pretty weird. But it's... nice, too. Aside from the fact that now she's here.

[Sokka frowns at that.]

I'm pretty sure you have to be here a full year before you get to be just 'okay' with your granddaughter showing up out of nowhere.

It's definitely not just "okay". There are a lot of complicated emotions going on. But there's no part of me that wants to reject her or anything. She's more than I could have hoped for in the future. [And this is the only time I'll ever see her.] And us Airbenders are always good at changing with the direction of the wind.

Yeah. [So. It isn't just all good for Aang then.] It changes everything.

[He pauses for a moment, bows his head slightly and takes another sip of tea.]

It... it does. I thought it might have been a big shock when I came from one year ahead of all of you. But this is... a whole different level. I'm gonna have a family. [He looks up to Sokka's eyes.] We're gonna be... even more brothers. [He hasn't been educated about in-law terminology yet.]

[Right. Family. They had called Aang that after they discovered he lost his entire people. But he was right. In the future, they'd be as close of family as they could become. Through Katara. His sister.

But she both wanted and din't want this.]

I guess now we know how Roku feels.

Kind of. But... most of the things Roku knows about his future are bad. And... a lot of what we know so far is good.

It only ended badly. He still grows up, gets married, and has kids. It's not a bad life. [It was just one moment. A moment that ruined everything.]

That's a good point. I... I guess it's more like Roku than I thought.

[Especially when he thinks about the two main bad things he knows. He'll die before Katara and before his grandkids are born. People will lose their bending. What if he makes a mistake like Roku? There's a slight sapping at his positive energy.]

It must be really hard for him, knowing what will happen and how it will affect us all, but know that he can't do anything about it. That he just has to accept it.

[Though even though it's his own past hanging in the balance, he doesn't believe Roku should accept that. Just like Sokka won't accept his own future being written in stone.]

That's true. Sometimes, it is hard when I think of... what happened after he failed to stop Sozin. But I have to remind myself of who he is now. I can't judge him for what hasn't happened yet. [The same with Zuko...] I can't make anyone be anything more than they are right now. It's only right.

[Sokka nods.]

The Roku we know right now wouldn't ever become the Roku from our past. Too much has changed for him. [There's a point there. And it's all about Katara. And to a lesser extent, Sokka too.]

[A lot of that's confusing for Aang. He holds onto the image of who people are at their core, who they've always been. He can't believe in people having been so drastically changed when they aren't even in their own world.]

Of course not, as long as he's here. Where there's no Fire Nation or Sozin.

And knowing what he knows.

[Would he still take decisive action against Sozin? When it came down to it, could Roku do what Aang couldn't bring himself to do against Ozai? Aang isn't completely convinced. But he doesn't want to argue.]

Yeah, you're right. This place has a weird way of showing us our lives our back home in different lights.

Yeah. [A pause as he narrows in on Aang.] It's harder for some of us. [Katara.] We've grown up here. We don't know where our lives are going. Finding out what our lives are supposed to end up like... It's not easy to accept.

I... I understand that. [He remembers how troubled Katara was, initially, the other night. He remembers how Sokka was when Suki left.] There's enough difficulties in this world, already. But... we're still in the present. The future isn't here yet. We all still have choices.

[A nod. He's thinking of his conversation with Katara last night...]

Don't forget that. Just because she's here... nothing's been decided yet.

I know that. I've been trying to make this as easy for Katara as I can. I know she doesn't... feel the same as back home, and I can't expect it after all the time she's been apart from me. But I'm... sorry you had to find out this way.

[... that, yeah. Aang and Katara, together.]

It doesn't bother me. [A surprising confession maybe. Mentally, it gave him the oogies. But emotionally, not so much.]

It kind of seems right, the two of you. Back in our own world, anyway.

I'm glad. [He hasn't changed that much.] You did get a little angry back home, but it was the funny kind of angry. [A wistful pause.] Things were so much simpler.

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